Top 10 Best Female MMA Fighters 2017 (UPDATED)

Posted By: Sushmita Ganguly | August 23, 2017

Fights are bloody, violent and fast, becoming quite the rage in recent years. Female MMA is as ferocious and bloody as their male counterpart and these women are the last person you want to walk into a ring with. Here are the Top 10 Best Female MMA Fighters.

Top 10 Best Female MMA Fighters

Best Female MMA Fighters

Mixed Martial arts or MMA is one of the most dangerous contact sports in the world where fighter use various forms of martial arts like karate, judo, boxing, jiu-jitsu etc to defeat their opponents. Let’s check out these 10 best female MMA fighters.

Ayaka Hamasaki

At number 10 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Ayaka Hamasaki. This Japanese kickboxer and mixed martial artist is the first Asian to win a North American Premier MMA Promotion Title when she won the Invicta FC atomweight championship. She happens to be one of the best looking female MMA fighters. With an impressive record of 13 wins and 1 loss, she is currently ranked 1st atomweight fighter in the world by Fight Matrix and MMARising.com and is also one of the top pound for pound female fighters in the world. She was also the winner of Deep Jewels Lightweight Queen Tournament and won the Women’s MMA Award for 2014 Atomweight Fighter of the Year.

Valentina Shevchenko

At number 9 is Valentina Shevchenko. This Kyrgyzstani female kickboxer, mixed martial artist and former boxer currently competes in women’s bantamweight division of UFC. She first learned taekwondo at 5 and Muay Thai at 12 and then freestyle Vale Tudo. At just 12, she knocked out a 22-year-old and thus began her kickboxing career and also got the nickname of “Bullet” because of her speed in the ring. She is one of the best kickboxers in the world with an impressive record of 58-2 and having won the IFMA World Championship nine times along with many other titles. She also both of her professional boxing fights. In MMA she has a record of 13 wins and two losses currently.

Karolina Kowalkiewicz

At number 8 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Karolina Kowalkeiwicz. This polish mixed martial artist is one beautiful lady but once she steps into the ring she is one hell of a fighter considering that she is ranked 5th in the world by Fight Matrix and is also the former KSW Women’s Flyweight Champion. In UFC she has enjoyed a flawless record till now winning all of her 10 bouts. She certainly has a lot of endurance and stamina considering that fact that 7 of her wins came by decisions which means she is not afraid to go down the wire against a tough opponent and deserves a place list of female MMA fighters.

Claudia Gadelha

At number 7 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Claudia Gadelha. This Brazilian mixed martial artist competes in the strawweight category and is currently ranked 1st in official UFC Strawweight rankings. Claudia is one of the hottest MMA women fighters. She is also the youngest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt in Nova Uniao’s history. Claudia currently has a record of 13 wins and two losses in MMA. She is accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter herself as she won the world championship three times, Rio International Open Championship four times, Brazilian National Championship seven times and was the 2013 Fan Favorite Women MMA Fighter of the Year.

Amanda Nunes

At number 6 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Amanda Nunes. This Brazilian mixed martial artist is the current UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion. Apart from her great fighting in the ring, what makes her really special is the fact that she is UFC’s first openly lesbian champion and is in a relationship with fellow UFC fighter Nina Ansaroff. She is one of the hottest female MMA fighters and has an impressive tally of 13 wins from 17 matches with 9 knockouts, proving how lethal she is.

Holly Holm

Holly Holm aka “The Preacher’s Daughter”

At number 5 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Holly Holm. Holly Holm became a force to be reckoned with in the MMA when she won the bantamweight championship by defeating Ronda Rousey in Melbourne in front of a record breaking crowd for a UFC event which is considered as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. Before turning to MMA, she was a professional Boxer and kickboxer. Holly became the world champion multiple times in boxing and defended her titles 18 titles across three different weight classes. She was also named two-time Ring Magazine fighter of the year. She also stands as one of the hottest female MMA fighters ratings.

Miesha Tate

At number 4 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Miesha Tate. Don’t let her cute face fool you because once in the ring she is one of the most lethal female mixed martial artists right now. A former UFC Women Bantamweight champion, former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion and also won the Bantamweight Championship for Freestyle Cage Fighting Promotion. Apart from her MMA exploits, she has also won silver at FILA Grappling World Championships. She is known in the list of MMA women for her great grappling ability and this has contributed to 7 wins by submission of her total 18 victories in MMA.

Ronda Rousey

At number 3 is Ronda Rousey. Ronda is an American MMA, judoka and actress. Ronda is one of the most famous female mixed martial artists because of her stint in the WWE. Also for her starring in commercially successful movies like Furious 7, Expendables 3, etc. As a judoka, she has won bronze at Olympics, silver at World Championship, gold at Pan American Games and two gold at Pan American Judo Championships. In MMA she has had 12 consecutive wins and was former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion and Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion. She is ranked 2nd in female bantamweight in the world 4th in pound for pound in Women’s MMA.

Cristiane Justino

At number 2 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Cristiane Justino. This Brazilian mixed martial artist is nicknamed “Cyborg” and for good reason considering her track record. She is a former Strikeforce Women Featherweight Champion and current Invicta FC World Featherweight Champion. She was a national level handball before being discovered a Chute Boxe Academy trainer and the rest is history. In MMA she has a record of 16 wins and 2 losses with 14 of them coming from knockouts. She has also won two gold medals for her country at the IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

At number 1 in Best Female MMA Fighters is Joanna Jedrzejczyk. This polish mixed martial artist competes in the strawweight division of UFC and is the UFC Women’s Strawweight champion. One of the most lethal fighters in the female UFC scene, she is the consensus #1 female strawweight. And #1 pound for pound female MMA fighter in the world. She is also at number 7 in pound for pound in UFC mixed gender rankings making her the only one of female fighters in the list. She was an extremely good kickboxer before turning to MMA with a record of 27 wins and 2 losses along with six world championships and four European Championships in Muay Thai. In MMA she has a flawless record so far with 12 wins in her 12 bouts. She is no doubt the best in MMA women fighters rankings in the business.

These Best women MMA Fighters aren’t messing around once the doors of the ring shuts and the referee rings the bell. Each of these Best Female MMA Fightersare top level fighters in their respective styles having won many world titles before shifting to MMA.